Wanda Bulow travels a stretch of Golden Avenue, just north of Battlefield Road, most days.

The trips take her past a parcel recently cleared of trees, where the new Sherwood Elementary is being built. Heavy machinery moves in and out. Concrete is being poured. Large precast wall sections, for a tornado "safe room," have been dropped in.

The changes, from week to week, have been exciting to watch. But she worries that more cars and buses on the road will congest her favorite shortcut to Sunshine Street.

"There will be more traffic, north and south, to get to the school," Bulow said. "I would hope they would widen Golden to accommodate that."

That is exactly what's planned.

Springfield Public Schools and the city of Springfield have budgeted roughly $460,000 to construct turning lanes in front of the school entrance and add a significant stretch of sidewalks.

They will split the cost of the road improvements. The district will pay for the sidewalks.

"With any project, we do a traffic study as one of the requirements," said Scott Wendt, director of business operations for the 25,000-student district. "We know when we put a school in, it increases traffic."

The new Sherwood Elementary will bring about 450 students and 25 staff members. The $17.8 million project is expected to be done and open by August.

It will include a new unit for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Springfield. The clubs agreed to pay $1.2 million for an adjoining 5,500-square-foot addition to be built and will pay $1,975 monthly usage fee for the shared spaces.

Bulow contacted the News-Leader because she lives just south of the intersection of Battlefield Road and Golden Avenue. She has seen how traffic into Carver Middle School can back up on Battlefield.

But, she points out, there's a big difference between the large Battlefield Road — with two lanes each direction plus a center turn lane — and the two-lane Golden Avenue.

"It's so narrow. There isn't any shoulder on Golden," she said. "There's no way for you to pull off."

Bulow said the deep ditches that exist at some points would be unforgiving. "It will not only be congested, it will be dangerous."

City and district officials said traffic improvements have been part of the discussion since the beginning.

Jonathan Peitz, engineer-in-training with the city, said a request for bids will be posted this winter. There will be turn lanes into the school and West Sunset Street, he said.

The sidewalks will be added on the east side of Golden, along the Sherwood property, and will connect to the trail that runs south of the school.

Currently, the peak volume of traffic is 300 vehicles a day. That is expected to increase to 400 after the school opens, Peitz said.

"We want to work with the school and community so that with the additional traffic, the people who travel that area aren't inconvenienced," he said.

The new Sherwood will absorb students from the current Sherwood Elementary on Scenic Avenue as well as alleviate crowding in several area schools. No decision has been made about how the current Sherwood building will be used.